Police beat

New Albany: Police arrest two people found asleep in vehicles

New Albany police arrested two people in recent weeks after finding the individuals asleep in their vehicles.

Police arrested a 38-year-old man for operating a motor vehicle under the influence and improper handling of a firearm at 5 a.m. July 18 on Johnstown Road at Morse Road.

The man was found asleep in the passenger seat of the vehicle, which was parked on Johnstown Road.

Because he was outside of New Albany's jurisdiction, the officer contacted the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, which asked the New Albany officer to process the individual since deputies were tied up on another call, according to the police report.

The man was arrested after several field sobriety tests, the report said. The officer found two handguns in the vehicle, one of which was loaded in violation of Ohio's firearms transport law.

The man refused to submit to a breath test and was taken to the Franklin County jail, the report said.

Police also cited a 34-year-old woman for operating a motor vehicle under the influence at 11:18 p.m. June 29 after finding her asleep in the driver's seat of her vehicle, which was running and blocking the entrance to the New Albany Farms subdivision on Reynoldsburg-New Albany Road.

The report said police tried unsuccessfully to wake the woman and had to unlock the car through an open window.

Once awake, the woman told police she was in her driveway at home and was surprised to learn she was in New Albany since she lives in Columbus, the report said.

She was taken to the police station after being given several field sobriety tests and refusing a breath test, and her car was impounded.

In other recent incident reports from the New Albany Police Department:

• Police are searching for a thief who took a toolbox and hedge trimmers between 1:40 and 2 p.m. July 11 from a groundskeeper's truck parked in the first block of Hawksmoor Drive.

Video surveillance from the area shows the toolbox was taken by someone driving a blue or gray truck, the report said.